This is a period of time I know so little of, but was fascinated to learn about. Sun Yat Sen is of course a well-known player in one of the world's most major and lastingly impactful moments in history, and Somerset Maugham a famed novelist, but the insights given here - fiction or not - open up a new world of wondering, humanising what were previously only names on paper and giving richness and depth to their lives, and perhaps more importantly the lives of the people they impinge upon.
The descriptions of life in Malaysia during the British colonial past really brings it to life, rather shamefully, to be honest, and the move from the humidity and heat of SE Asia to the dry, bleaching heat of South Africa not only reflects the shrivelling of Lesley's soul, as she leaves the place and people she loves to follow a husband where there is no love, shows the stretch and range of the Empire's selfish reach.
There's so much to unpick in this novel - love, secrets, colonialism, duty, societal expectations, the place of women, homophobia - it's a story that could, should, form part of a A Level syllabus.
Just read it.

Tan Twan Eng's previous novel, The Garden of Evening Mists, was an absolute delight for me- a sensuous, moving and clever novel.

Although The House of Doors did not always connect for me in the same way, the beauty of the language was still very much there, as Tan Twan Eng guides us through the tension and politics of not only empire and colonialism, but how that intersects with law, sexuality and justice.

Without spoiling the book, two major plot points centre around a court case and the complications of trying a white woman in colonial Penang, and around W Somerset Maugham as he inhabits a world that wants to both covet and reject who he is.

Building in tension and in thoughtful discussion, this book is a powerful re-centring of colonial narratives from someone who understands what they can feel like.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Having been to Penang for holidays for years I was very interested in this book. I was not disappointed it transported me it gripped me and it was beautifully written. A joy.

We meet Lesley in 1921 in Penang, as she and her husband prepare to welcome the writer W. Somerset Maugham and his secretary to stay with them. Willie, as he is affectionately known, ever with a nose for a story, senses that Lesley has a secret that she has kept hidden from her husband – much as he has kept his homosexuality hidden from those around him for decades. Believing the secret to be an affair with the Chinese revolutionary, Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Willie connects with Lesley in order to learn more about her relationship with this man. However, the truth he uncovers is rather different.

This was an intriguing novel, and is certainly beautifully evocative in terms of conjuring up the time and place in which it is set. I enjoyed learning more about this period, as well as the life of Somerset Maugham. Some of the language used and sentiments expressed by several of the main characters are rather jarring to modern ears, but I don’t believe it is the author’s intention to make the reader comfortable in what is fundamentally a story about secrets and the danger of non-conformity at this time.

I would certainly read more by this author, and have also been inspired to reread some works of Maugham!

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

This novel is sent in the early 1900s, in colonial Malaya, with the island of Penang featuring prominently. It follows the author Willie Somerset Maugham, and his friends Robert and Lesley. The most interesting relationship develops between Willie and Lesley, as she slowly reveals to him the happenings on the island some 11 years prior, with stories of her relationship with Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, and thus her involvement in the revolution. She also reveals to him details of the trial of Ethel Proudlock, a white woman convicted of shooting her lover, whom she claims was attempting to rape her. It is a fascinating account of these historical events, and certainly provided a new understanding for me of the importance of Penang in the Chinese Communist revolution.

I am certain that the author had a strong sense of direction from the very beginning, however I did find the first section quite slow-paced, with no obvious sense of where it was headed. The 'present-day' narrative - i.e. during Willie's stay with Robert and Lesley, as opposed to her flashbacks - don't have much of a driving force. It is only when Lesley begins her tales of a decade ago that I found myself truly engaged with the story. Even then, her dual narratives about the growing rebellion, and the trial of Ethel Proudlock, feel quite contrary to one another. However it is clearly a detailed and eloquent representation of the many different events happening on this one small island.

Pleased to see this on the Booker prize longlist - very well deserved. I'm a big fan of this author's writing. The way the story unfolded was beautiful - I enjoyed learning more about W. Somerset Maugham's life without feeling preached at; the colonial Malaysia was extremely vivid - I could picture it so clearly in my mind. Excellent.

A vivid recreation by Tan Twan Eng of colonial life in Penang, now part of Malaysia, in the early 20th century, weaving fact and fiction seamlessly. The writer Somerset Maugham, his wife Syrie and his Secretary Gerald Laxton and other real life characters such as Sun Yat Sen, are drawn into a story of public faces and secret lives, focusing on a fictional couple, Lesley and Robert, in three time periods, 1910, 1921 and 1947. The author has created an atmospheric story, alternating between first person narrative from Lesley and third person with Maugham. The story of Ethel Proudfoot, tried for murder, and later fictionalised by Maugham in The Letter, is also retold. Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for an advance review copy.

‘A story, like a bird of the mountain, can carry a name beyond the clouds, beyond time itself. Willie Maugham said that to me many years ago.’ The opening lines of ‘The House of Doors’ confirm that I will fall in love with the writer, his story, his characters, as I did when reading ‘The Gift of Rain’. Tan Twan Eng’s ability to embody time and place and passion with genuinely awe-inspiring prose can do no other than take the reader on a spellbinding journey of elegance and insight.
I am reminded of the gratification of peeling the succulent petals of an artichoke to dip into rich French butter to savour and savour and savour … until reaching the very heart.

Mixed feelings about this one. It's beautifully written and atmospheric, with a strong sense of place and period. But as a story it lacks pace and drama. Given the raw material - a sensational murder trial, a charismatic revolutionary, an author in crisis - that's almost an achievement.
*
Copy from NetGalley

A gentle read set in the 1920s in Penang, Malaysia. A slice of colonial life depicted by the wealthy aristocrats who are forever drinking cocktails and going to parties. Beautiful houses and gardens are the main feature, artistically described by the author at great length. These are in contrast to the poor indigenous peoples and the rumbles of revolution.

The story is mainly told from the first-person perspective of a society wife who enjoys a very comfortable life. Of the many rich and distinguished guests, the couple who ignite the story are the real life author Somerset Maugham and his his secretary. Maugham takes over the storytelling regularly, confiding to the reader his own private issues. What they all have in common is they all have secrets and keep up the facade of being happy and contented even though most of the marriages, finances and other relationships are all shams. Appearances are everything. The actual house of doors is a perfect expression for this.

​The book is very much a time and place kind of tale, with a real-life murder and court case to enhance the plot. There is the feel that all the good things are about to end despite the dreamy setting, and symbolic of the British Empire. The writing is poetically pictorial, if drawn out a little at times, and very pleasant to read.

I wasn't sure about this book at first but became more engrossed the more I read. It gives a real insight to the period and the turmoil going on in in the far east at the time. Obviously the main characters are not real but their story is blended well with the real life people and events. Beautifully written and a fascinating read.

1921. Penang. Somerset Maugham is travelling in the Far East with his lover Gerald Haxton. His old friend Robert Hamlyn, a barrister, invites him to stay with him and his wife Lesley in their house by the sea. Initially reluctant, Hilary is soon won round and starts to tell Maugham stories about life in Penang. Some of these become the inspiration for his collection the Casuarina Tree, a book that will later transform his fortunes. Based on real events, I found this a truly compelling read. It’s a multi-layered novel with a multiplicity of themes – secrets, regrets, betrayal, public and private lives, politics, colonialism, silences and sexuality – all expertly interwoven. The historical background and the sense of time and place are vividly and atmospherically evoked, and give real insight into Penang society in that era. Fact and fiction are seamlessly combined and nuanced characterisation, authentic dialogue and empathy and insight are in evidence throughout. Somerset Maugham in particular comes across as fully alive on the page. I have read and enjoyed Tan Twang Eng’s previous novels but sometimes found them overwritten, just too lush. But the writing here is toned down and more objective and that suits me more. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read, and one which I heartily recommend.

The story focuses on a Lesley, a privileged, expat housewife who lives In Malaysia with her barrister husband. They seem to be a fairly banal upper middle class couple until her husband's friend "Willie" Somserset Maugham comes to stay along with his lover cum secretary Gerald. Maugham loves to write stories and novels based on real events and people and is fascinated by Lesley's memories of of being a young woman in Penang and her association with Sun Yat Sen. This novel is epic in it's scale but I found the pacing slow. I'm not sure the conceit of adding Somerset Mugham to the fictional narrative was necessary. It was interesting to learn more about how Sun Yat Sen's rebellion and the formation of the Chinese Republic affected neighbouring countries. I feel that it is a novel I admire for its ambition and scope rather than for its execution.

A good book. Not as captivating as his Garden of evening mists. It made me read Somerset Maugham again and captured the feel of Malaysia in the 30s.

A very likeable book. I enjoyed it very much. From the beginning I wasn't sure how I would get on with reading a novel about a very real person. I shouldn't have doubted myself, as it was a very special book.
The setting is mostly in Penang, Britain's first settlement in Malaya. It covers the period just before and just after WW1.
'Willie' Somerset Maugham is visiting an old friend Robert Hamlyn and his wife Leslie. Robert warns his wife not to say too much to Willie but Leslie enjoys their conversations, even knowing these could be used in his subsequent work. The relationships and events throughout the book are complicated, like many in life, yet the book flows and it was always a pleasure to come back to.
Even before finishing this book. I had to check how much it was based on truth and this all added to the experience. I can't wait to read others by this author.

Lesley is married to Robert, a much older man, living the expat life in Malaysia in the 1920s. They have 2 sons, but the marriage is no longer close.

William Somerset Maugham comes to stay, and Lesley shares stories with him.

A compelling read about the complexities of relationships, love, and colonial life. Very evocative.

Well worth a read.

An elegantly written multi-layered tale of complicated relationships, revolution and murder in early 20th century Penang.

A lot of monumental things may take place (and indeed, did) in a short period of time: a Chinese revolution, a notorious murder trial, and large-scale crackdowns on the LGBTQ community. And yet, it is the experience of those who live through that era that truly brings it alive.

This is the case in Tan Twan Eng’s The House of Doors, set mostly in Penang, Malaysia, in both 1910 and 1921. While much of the historic aspect of this novel was new and illuminating to me, I will especially remember it by Eng’s exceptional prose. Indeed, the author writes as beautifully here as he does in The Garden of Evening Mists (one of my all-time favourite books), although I do find this bunch of characters to be less well-characterised: more difficult to get a grip on, and more difficult to fully “see”. They feel a little flat: Lesley, the highly-strung housewife; Robert, the almost-absent husband; Gerald and “Willie” - a hidden-in-plain-sight gay couple, the former young and wild, the latter - well, an author. There is very little texture to them, even when they encounter adversity.

I rate this novel highly for books one and three - but the middle, book two, drags on in an apathetic spiral of unhappy relationships, British colonial culture, and protagonists that lack self-awareness.

I’ve not read any W. Somerset Maugham, nor watched any film adaptations, but this did not affect my enjoyment of the book. In fact, I think it may have helped.

As much as I do love The House of Doors, I am not sure if I would have appreciated it as much if I had not already enjoyed the author’s work before. So if you want to try Tan Twan Eng, start with one of his first two novels.

“The walls here were also covered with doors. And hanging from the ceiling beams were more doors, carefully spaced apart and suspended on wires so thin they seemed to be floating in the air. We walked between the rows of painted doors, our shoulders and elbows setting them spinning slowly.”

My thanks to Canongate for an eARC via NetGalley, of ‘The House of Doors’ by Tan Twan Eng.

It is notable that Eng’s first two novels were both nominated for the Man Booker Prize: ‘The Gift of Rain’ was long-listed in 2007 and ‘The Garden of Evening Mists’ was short-listed in 2012 and went on to win two literary awards. It will be interesting to see how ‘The House of Doors’, his third novel, is received.

The novel has two narrative perspectives. The first is Lesley Hamlyn, a society hostess who in 1921 is living with her lawyer husband, Robert, at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay.

The second voice is Willie Somerset Maugham, one of the greatest writers of his day. Yet despite his fame, Willie has many problems including an unhappy marriage, ill-health, and business problems. On top of all this he is struggling to write.

Over time a friendship grows between Lesley and Willie. She ends up confiding her secrets to him, including how in 1910 she came to know the charismatic Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China and her relationship to Dr. Arthur Loh, who had served as Dr. sen’s interpreter. It is Loh who collects painted doors and displays them in the house of the title. Lesley also reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman who was charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts.

Throughout ‘The House of Doors’ Tan Twan Eng’s writing is exquisite. He skilfully blends fact and fiction, incorporating details of the infamous murder trial along with Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s time in Penang. Given its period setting it’s quite fitting that Eng addresses issues linked to British colonialism. As a result dated language and attitudes are sometimes expressed.

Overall, I found ‘The House of Doors’ a brilliant work of historical literary fiction that addresses important issues, perfectly evokes its period setting, and proved an engaging and thought provoking read.

Highly recommended.

A great insight into life in Malaysia in the 1920s. also pulls in some history of China at that time plus an introduction to Somerset Maugham in the far east. The idea of old doors being preserved is a lovely thought. The affair carried out in the house is not. As to why it starts and ends in South Africa – I never did work it out.
Overall a gentle read.